Maia's English 1 Portfolio

A few of the areas that I still need to work on in my writing are conventions, informal language, and making sure that my ideas contribute to my argument. Comma splices and incorrect use of punctuation has shown up in all of the major writing assignments that I have done this year. Using correct punctuation is extremely important and leaves an impact on the professionalism and quality of a piece of writing. Looking more closely at the frequent mistakes that I have been making will help me fix them and look out for them in the future. While I was looking at the comments on my research paper I noticed that there was the use of informal language in my paper. I also sometimes feel like I want to add a lot of detail to my writing, but I need work on knowing the right amount of detail to use. Making sure that all detail and information are relevant to the topic is important.  All of the weaknesses that appear within my writing are important to work on. These areas are im...

As a writer, I would consider my strengths to be in my word choice and the way that my voice comes through in my writing. When I am writing I like to look for ways to replace dead words with words that the reader's senses will respond to. Instead of saying fun or boring I replace those words with lively or dull. Strong word choice brings many positive effects to writing. I feel as if my word choice has improved throughout the year and I would consider it one of my strengths.  Voice also plays a very important role in a person's writing. Voice is what gives a piece it's personality. The writer's opinions, personality, and stance on the topic come through in the writing's voice. I like to use voice in my writing to express how I feel about the topic but not in such a straightforward way. The reader can pick up my voice in my writing through how I state things and my style of writing. Besides word choice and voice I would consider organization, creating powerful int...

This year I have learned a lot about myself as a writer. I've learned that I am capable of doing all different types of writing and with the right guidance and mindset I can be successful with writing in different ways. The different writing assignments that we have had in class this year have helped me figure out what I like to write about. Through our blog posts, I have found that I enjoy writing about topics which interest me. When I am writing about something that I have something to say about my writing is stronger and has more personality. The writing that we have done this year has helped me learn that I enjoy writing introductions because I feel like this is one of the most important parts of any piece of writing. My writing has also gotten stronger throughout this year and as I have been reading through some of the writing that I did at the beginning of this year there is a noticeable difference in the quality of my writing. My organization is better and I have figured ...

I am a writer who thinks out of the box. As a writer, I like to take the ordinary and make it a little less ordinary. When I receive a topic to write about I decide on how I am going to view it from a different side and write about it in a unique way. I am a writer who demonstrates the good traits of writing. Using my voice through my writing is one of my greatest strengths and when I write I make sure that my ideas are organized and that my word choice is strong. I am a writer who makes mistakes sometimes. Because like in everything else in life making mistakes gives me room to grow. Making mistakes in my writing opens up opportunities for making great changes. I am a writer who experiences with different types of writing. I have learned how to write in multiple different ways and by trying out all of them I can explore my writing topics in professional, silly, thorough and brief ways. I am a writer who enjoys writing for the sake of being creative and getting my ideas out in a wa...

This year I have been to the writing center a few times and every time that I have gone has been a positive and beneficial experience. During the second semester, I went to the writing center for my research paper. I decided to make an appointment once I had gotten everything down loosely. Once I had written out all of the main ideas there was detail and corrections that needed to be made so that the paper would flow smoothly and could be organized. I made the writing center appointment seeking guidance in strengthening my conclusion and working on repetition and transitions. Working with a writing fellow was very easy and helpful. I was able to address the issues in my paper and also come up with good additions. By reading my paper out loud to my writing fellow the issues which I didn't catch before became visible and my writing fellow was able to better assist me on where to go from there. I was able to construct my outline by figuring out how I could tie up my paper in a succe...